Cutting-edge cancer metabolism studies at CAPI Node

Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but it also hides a scientific secret. Right in the historic city centre, the Charles University hosts the Center for Advanced Preclinical Imaging (CAPI). “The building is nothing fancy from the outside, but once you’re inside, it’s like a spaceship, with a lot of futuristic laboratories and  equipment.” This is how Dr. Mohamed Elgendy introduced his experience as a Euro-BioImaging user at the CAPI Node, where he receives excellent support for the cutting-edge cancer metabolism research he is carrying out. 

Dr. Mohamed Elgendy is a group leader at University Hospital Dresden. Following 5 years of successful clinical practice, Mohamed developed a fascination with medical research and set a goal of leading his own research group. The scientific path he took towards achieving this goal has been a successful journey in 7 reputed labs in 6 EU countries (Ghent, Tubingen, Wurzburg, Bergamo, Dublin, Milan, Vienna, Prague and Dresden). He started his lab in Dresden in 2019 after obtaining the very highly competitive and prestigious ERC Starting Grant as well as Mildred Scheel Early Career Center (MSNZ) funds. Over the last 18 years, Mohamed has developed a strong interest in research on tumor biology with particular focus on tumor metabolism for the last 10 years.

“I’m very grateful for CAPI because they have a lot of expertise to support my experiments and a “can-do” attitude that makes everything possible,”

• Mohamed Elgendy

Cancer cells differ from normal ones in their higher energy and biomass demands due to their faster growth rate. Therefore, they rewire their metabolism to meet these demands. Mohamed’s research is precisely aimed at understanding how the growth of tumor cells can be stopped by altering their metabolism using drugs and/or specific dietary restrictions. 

In vivo imaging to support cancer metabolism studies

Advances in the field of cancer metabolism have stressed the importance of tumor microenvironment and the need to study metabolism of tumors at the original microenvironment of the organ they originated from. Thus, orthotopic models have become a necessity when studying tumor metabolism and in vivo imaging is really essential to explore the tumor metabolism questions Mohamed wanted to resolve in his research.

His first contact with the CAPI Node was very timely. It happened in 2021, when he attended a training course on animal imaging in Prague and was invited to visit the imaging facility at the Node, which really impressed him. In the futuristic, “spaceship-like” laboratory, he found all the relevant cutting edge imaging technologies he needed, as well as the expertise and the infrastructure to prepare the animal models. On top of that, he appreciated their highly collaborative mood. “I’m very grateful for CAPI because they have a lot of expertise to support my experiments. In addition, they have a “can-do” attitude that makes everything possible,” Mohamed says.

A successful collaboration that started at a training course

He and the Node’s staff started planning the experiments, then Mohamed travelled to the Node to culture the tumor cells and assist during the preparation of the mice models. All the rest was done by Node’s staff: they monitored the tumor growth by in vivo optical imaging, then they ran FDG-PET imaging to measure glucose uptake and metabolism in untreated and treated mice.

After the first study was carried out at CAPI, others followed. Furthermore, the established collaboration with the Node is meant to be maintained and reinforced in the future, through preparation of other joint grant proposals and possibly new Euro-BioImaging user access projects. Mohamed is indeed also interested in monitoring the cardiotoxicity of tumor treatments and the CAPI Node is very skilled with US cardiovascular imaging in mice. Again, a perfect match - which will make this collaboration stronger!

Mohamed’s enthusiasm about the CAPI Node and Euro-BioImaging is contagious:  “Thanks a lot for your efforts, what you are doing really helps us with our research. The best things that happened to me career-wise in the past five years have been getting the ERC grant and collaborating with the CAPI Node of Euro-BioImaging”. 

Towards new therapeutic strategies to tackle chemo-resistance

The initial training course Mohamed attended without any particular expectation became the start of a beautiful, long-lasting Euro-BioImaging collaboration. It has already led to a Nature Communication publication, a joint funding proposal, and one day may lead to a new therapeutic strategy to tackle chemo-resistance.  

Article written collaboratively by Alessandra Viale and Marianna Childress-Poli